Nasri hints he will quit international scene

Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri could quit international football, after claiming he has made a decision about his future with France.

Published

4 August 2014

In an interview on Sunday, Nasri revealed "the national team doesn't make me happy", while he claimed his decision will benefit City.

Nasri was left out of Didier Deschamps' France squad for the FIFA World Cup, prompting a Twitter tirade from his girlfriend and some disappointed comments by the player himself.

The 27-year-old was also overlooked for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, while he suffered a three-game internal ban after swearing at a journalist at Euro 2012, following France's elimination from the tournament.

"I've made the decision," Nasri said.

"I took it a while ago but I'll say it when the time is right. It's not something you can just announce on Twitter.

"I didn't win anything with the national team so it's more easy to take this decision than if we'd just won something. When you play for a big club and you play lots of games, it's easy to come to this decision.

"Yes, maybe City will benefit. Maybe during the international breaks I can stay and work a little bit more. All the players who played the World Cup and have lots of games during the season with their national teams can get tired and pick up injuries, that kind of stuff. So I think I will be fresh."

Nasri, who has won two Premier League titles with City, including last season's, has played 41 games for France, scoring five goals.

When omitting the creative midfielder from his World Cup squad, Deschamps claimed Nasri does not reproduced his club form for France, which triggered a stream of abuse on Twitter from the player's girlfriend Anara Atanes.

Atanes wrote: "F*** france and f*** deschamps! What a s*** manager!"

Nasri claimed the criticism he has received from Deschamps and the French media does not faze him but he wants to protect his family from it.

"Personally it doesn't affect me but it affects my family. They live in France, they read the press and stuff like that," he said.

"I live in England. I'm fine with everything they said and I'm used to it. But for my parents it's really hard. I want to make them happy and the national team doesn't make me happy."

France's 2010 World Cup campaign was marred by infighting but during this year's tournament in Brazil, Deschamps and his players regularly underlined how united the squad was and how much that helped them on the pitch.

Deschamps side finished top of their group in Brazil before being eliminated by eventual champions Germany in the quarter-finals.